Wait! It's a Jerusalem Cricket

While planting in the yard, I dug this up ....

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male Jerusalem cricket has a smaller abdomen

The Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus sp.) is also known as a potato bug or an earth baby, nino de la terra. It is not poisonous or dangerous in any way. It can pinch, but that's all. It lives in the soil and is active at night.

This large insect is an important decomposer. Just like earthworms, the Jerusalem cricket eats decaying leaf litter and turns it back into the soil. Don't be afraid of this big bug. She can't hop, doesn't see well, and just wants to get away from scary giant humans. Look for her thread-thin antennae that help her find her way.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I'm thankful for creatures like the Jerusalem cricket. I think she's beautiful. She has a job to do and she stands up for herself. 

Go J. cricket!

Planting CA Native Plants

More Earth Minutes with insects
Butterflies in Illinois
Night Sounds - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID
Graybird Grasshopper
Insect and Animal Close-ups

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on TheEarthMinute.com

Anise Swallowtail Butterfly

Butterflies are part of a yard with biodiversity. An anise swallowtail butterfly (Papilo zelicaon) is one of the larger butterflies that we see in Southern California.

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The solid black shoulders identify this as an anise rather than a tiger swallowtail. While the 'desert' black swallowtail looks very similar, it is typically not found in the Los Angeles area. 

This female anise swallowtail is laying eggs on lemon tree leaves. While anise swallowtails can be citrus pests, the large population of birds in our yard makes it a challenge for a caterpillar to reach butterfly-hood. California towhee parents. The Bewick's wrens are constantly hunting caterpillars this time of year.

Mourning cloaks, skippers, tiger swallowtails, painted ladies, even monarchs frequent an oasis in the city. 

For ideas on creating your own butterfly garden see the Hidden Gardens of Pierce College's Botanical Garden and Orcutt Ranch Park.

More butterflies - Mourning Cloak & Butterflies of Illinois

Tiny creatures are always creating Earth Minutes 

Find Your Earth Minute - Stop in One Place

The Earth Minute is all about taking a moment to connect with the world around you. Linger in one place for a few minutes and be amazed at the life around you.

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Looking for just a few minutes at one spot at Sepulveda Wildlife Basin we spotted:

• American coots
• song sparrow
• double-crested cormorant
• mosquito fish
• a true bug

You can find an Earth Minute anywhere, just stop and focus outside of yourself.

Green ant

More Earth Minutes with...
The tiny: Green Ants; Valley Carpenter Bee, Illinois Butterflies
The shy: Bewick’s wrens, Great Horned Owl Taking Shelter

The common: Western Fence Lizards, Los Angeles River
The unusual: Strange Art on an Australian Beach, Wind Across Mongolia, Encounter with a Lace Monitor, Trees Dreaming

Another Moment in One Place
More of Sepulveda Basin and the Los Angeles River 

Go Find Your Earth Minute

Bees Buzzing in the Lemon Tree

Southern California is having early warm days this year, and the trees and the bees are making the best of it.

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Our Meyer lemon tree burst into bloom in early February.

 

Take a look at her feet - sticky from the bright

yellow citrus pollen. 

With the help of these little ladies, we should have a very good crop of sweet lemons later this year!

Keep pesticides away from your garden and help provide food sources for these important pollinators.

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Take a Closer Look at the Gray Bird Grasshopper

Have you seen a medium-sized green grasshopper or a large brown grasshopper in the Los Angeles area? If you have, you've seen a gray bird grasshopper (Schistocerca nitens, aka Schistocerca vaga). Take a look at how they change.



The grasshopper molts its exoskeleton as it gets larger and with each molt it's coloring gradually changes. 

The gray bird grasshopper is the largest insect in the Los Angeles Basin. It is typically solitary and doesn't eat that much. Some research with other grasshoppers has shown that grasshopper droppings actually are important fertilizer returning important nutrients back into the soil.

We regard the arrival of these insects as a true sign of summer.

See other local California insects - Valley Carpenter Bees

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Watching Valley Carpenter Bees

I was headed down to the garage when I heard a gnawing sound and saw a pinch of sawdust fall from the side of the bottlebrush trunk. The Earth Minute video will reveal who was carving a home out of the soft wood.

Four valley carpenter bees (Xylocopa varipuncta) live in the old trunk. These large bees (approx. 1 inch long) live in southern California and are valuable pollinators. Each individual visits more plants daily than a European honey bee.  

The three black females and one golden-colored male share the tunnels, but the females are also carving out new tunnels to lay their 5-7 eggs.

Each larva is sealed in a chamber within the tunnel and provisioned with its own food. They mature to adult form and then break their way out of their chambers.

I love to see these big bees in the garden. Their loud buzz alerts you to their presence. Valley carpenter bees give you a complete evaluation before flying on, but don’t be afraid of them. Like many large creatures they are gentle giants, males do not even have stingers. They are gatherers of abundance, harvesting from the plants but sharing their bounty by pollinating and helping new things grow. I regard them as a personal totem animal. 

One of the most gratifying places to experience an Earth Minute is in your own backyard. Take a moment to explore the world right outside your door.

See and hear more at TheEarthMinute.com

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